UK finance sector CIOs wary of cloud hype

27 May 2011 | 8025 views | 1

The vast majority of CIOs at UK financial services firms think that cloud technology has been over-hyped and it poses the same challenges as any other big IT transition, according to a SunGard-sponsored survey.

The poll of 100 UK CIOs in the finance sector, carried out by Vanson Bourne, shows 86% think the hype surrounding cloud technology is overdone. Over three quarters argue that moving to the cloud is no different from past major IT transitions they've been involved with.

The top three challenges respondents feel they face are keeping data secure and resilient, cost-cutting while maintaining service levels and the logistics of moving IT to new platforms. These are the same issues they have faced throughout their technology careers.

Asked what they look for in a cloud provider, the CIOs want what they always want in an IT supplier - reliability, security, reputation and lower costs.

Vendors still need to do a better job of convincing them of their ability to support customers in the shift to the cloud though. According to the findings, 79% want vendors to show greater clarity and visibility in their capabilities in data protection, 74% in security and 44% in pricing.

Keith Tilley, MD, UK and EVP, Europe, SunGard Availability Services, says: "The research clearly shows that while the IT landscape may have changed, CIOs' concerns have not. Businesses are looking to exploit the cloud's potential, but they're not willing to give up the security or resilience of their data. And as data continues to grow at an alarming rate, the pressure on CIOs to ensure it's always available to the organisation will only increase, regardless of the platform on which businesses' data is delivered or stored."

Another Sungard-Vanson Bourne survey last year found that, despite stagnant IT budgets, many mid-sized UK financial services firms are still wary of making cloud-related investments, concerned about security and data control.

Comments: (1)

I remember reading a recent observation that the Top 3 IT Services Vendors are not among the Top 3 Cloud Solutions Providers. Cloud or IT services, banks might be looking for the same qualities but they might not find them among their existing vendors!